Ten Scandals That Should Have Prohibited Donald Trump From Ever Being President

We heard a great deal about Hillary Clinton's scandals which were thoroughly investigated and reported on for years.

But there has been little attention in the media paid to the the many scandals involving Donald Trump. Many of these make the Clinton scandals pale in comparison. Trump’s scandals involve actual fraud, criminal activity, discrimination, bribery and even ties to organized crime.

1. Trump made a fortune by bankrupting his casinos and walking away with his investor’s money.

Although he likes to brag about the success of his Atlantic City casinos, Trump’s casino business lost money long before the rest of the gambling industry failed there.

When Trump decided to declare bankruptcy for his casinos, it didn’t just enable him to get out of paying his debts to contractors and suppliers, it allowed him to make money while his investors suffered all the losses.

So Trump actually brags about his ability to close down a business, put hundreds of people out of work, default on his debts to contractors and suppliers while letting his investors lose money on the deal.

To Donald Trump maximizing his profits is the only thing that matters. He doesn’t care how many other people lose their jobs, their businesses or their life savings.

2. Trump has a history of refusing to pay contractors who worked for him.

From the article in USA Today:

Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will "protect your job." But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.

Trump has even refused to pay some of the lawyers who represented him in those lawsuits.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Trump’s companies have been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or the minimum wage.

3. Trump University scammed thousands of people resulting in lawsuits that are still in progress today.

Donald Trump’s own employees regarded Trump University as a giant rip-off.

In testimony during a class action suit against Trump, an employee of Trump University said that “while Trump University claimed it wanted to help consumers make money in real estate, in fact Trump University was only interested in selling every person the most expensive seminars they possibly could.” The affidavit concludes, “Based upon my personal experience and employment, I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme, and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.”

The Attorney General of New York, who described Trump University as a classic bait-and-switch scheme, repeatedly told Trump’s company that they were breaking the law by calling themselves a University when in fact they were just a business selling Donald Trump’s alleged insights on making money in real estate.

New York State is suing Trump alleging that Trump University scammed students out of $40 million. Two class action lawsuits have also been filed against Trump in California. When a judge decided to allow the lawsuits to continue, Trump attacked the judge as being biased against him simply because the judge was of Mexican heritage.

4. The Donald J. Trump Foundation made illegal contributions to politician and then misreported the contribution to cover it up.

The Trump Foundation made an illegal political contribution to the Florida Attorney General who was planning to investigate claims that Trump University fraudulently tried to cheat Florida citizens out of their money.

After receiving the $25,000 payment, the Florida Attorney General decided not to investigate Trump University.

In order to cover up the illegal contribution to the Florida Attorney General, the Trump Foundation falsely reported the $25,000 contribution on their taxes. They indicated that it went to a charity in Kansas which, in fact, never received any money from the Trump Foundation.

5. The Trump Institute was a classic get-rich-quick scam using Trump’s name to lure unsuspecting victims.

The Trump Institute promised a series of seminars where people could get Donald Trump’s expertise on how to get rich. Unfortunately nobody who took the course ever got to meet Mr. Trump and the entire seminar was plagiarized from another get rich quick scheme from a decade earlier.

In creating the Trump Institute, Donald Trump worked with a pair of business partners, Irene and Mike Milin, who had a history of fraud and deceptive business practices for decades.

Donald Trump was sued by the New York Attorney General over claims he operated a fraudulent online educational institute that swindled students out of $40 million.

6. Trump’s Modelling agency had foreign models lie to customs officials to work in the U.S. illegally.

Trump’s New York modeling agency, Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with Mother Jones. Financial and immigration records included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump's agency in the United States without a proper visa.

Some models felt like they were treated like slaves by Trump’s modelling agency. The agency took 80% of the models’ earnings as expenses and fees. Immigration experts say this is a typical way to take advantage of foreign workers who come to America.

7. Trump illegally employed large numbers of foreign workers at his resorts.

As recently as July of 2016 Trump planned to hire 78 servers, housekeepers, and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach and the nearby Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter Florida.

Instead of making sure those jobs go to Americans, he sought to import foreign workers for the positions, which pay $10.17 an hour for housekeepers, $11.13 an hour for servers, and $12.74 for cooks. He filed applications claiming he couldn’t find enough Americans to do that work, and sought temporary visas to bring in 65 workers at Mar-a-Lago along with another seven waiters and six cooks at the golf club.

Trump has a long history of hiring foreign workers for little money and not paying them all the money he owes them.

Some of the foreign workers have given up hope of ever receiving the pay that Trump owes them. However, there is a class action lawsuit against Trump that has been languishing in court for 15 years charging that he owes $4 million to the union welfare funds for the work that many of the foreign workers performed.

8. Trump has a long history of hiring construction firms in New York with ties to organized crime.

When Donald Trump built Trump Tower and Trump Plaza in Manhattan, he hired companies with that were owned or controlled by members of organized crime. This includes buying overpriced concrete from a company controlled by Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano, two known mafia bosses.

A federal investigation revealed that construction of the Trump Plaza apartment building benefitted from connections to racketeering. At the time, Trump himself was under investigation by a grand jury directed by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn who wanted to know how Trump managed to obtain an option to buy the Penn Central railroad yards in Manhattan.

9. Trump violated anti-trust laws during a takeover attempt of a rival casino.

The Federal Trade Commission said Trump violated the law by using illegal methods to try to take over a competitor’s casino business. Ultimately, Trump had to pay a $750,000 penalty for violating anti-trust laws.

10.Trump has a history of housing discrimination.

In 1973, Trump Management was investigated by the Justice Department for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against blacks.

Both Fred Trump, the company’s chairman, and Donald Trump, its president, were named as defendants.

In 1978 a Justice Department lawyer wrote to Trump’s lawyer that “We believe that an underlying pattern of discrimination continues to exist in the Trump Management organization.

An investigation by the New York Times involving files from the New York Commission on Human Rights, Justice Department records, court documents and interviews with tenants, civil rights activists and prosecutors reveals a long history of racial bias by Trump’s businesses.

What does all of this tell us about Donald Trump?

These scandals occurred long before Trump was ever a serious candidate for president. Most of them span a period of many years over his adult life. Generally speaking, these are not things you could write off as isolated instances or momentary lapses in judgement.

One could conclude that all of this demonstrates a long pattern of behavior by Donald Trump where he uses his vast wealth and power in a predatory manner to further enrich himself by exploiting other people.

This goes far beyond simple capitalism. He is motivated only by his own greed and not by any altruistic desire to help others. The multitude of lawsuits against Trump, despite the fact that he has stalled some of them for decades, demonstrate the magnitude of his greed as well as his ability to use his wealth and power to discourage further lawsuits.

The huge numbers of people, including his own lawyers, who say he has not paid them the money he owes them is an indicator of the kind of man Donald Trump truly is.

Comments

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Johnson 20 months ago

Austinstar said: "Sorry about that. I just cannot get myself to think of the "right" as being 'right' (as in correct). Both extremes (Left and Right) are basically in the left handed brain (weird thinkers) category."

That was my guess. I will let it slide this time ;-)

Lela 20 months agofrom Somewhere in the universe

Sorry about that. I just cannot get myself to think of the "right" as being 'right' (as in correct). Both extremes (Left and Right) are basically in the left handed brain (weird thinkers) category.

Hillary is by far the most qualified person in the world to be president of the USA.

Experience COUNTS!

Gary Johnson is a joke.

Johnson 20 months ago

Jeff,

I respect your decision also. We all have to follow our hearts.

I also want someone who has progressive values, that is why I am voting for someone outside of the establishment. Only then can we have true change.

Gary isn't just the better alternative. He is the only alternative. Everything else is just the status quo.

Author

jeff61b 20 months ago

Johnson -

I respect the fact that you vote your conscience. That is what I'm doing by voting for Hillary. She represents my views better than any other candidate.

I want someone who will govern with progressive values. Someone who will not reverse all the progress that has been made during the last 8 years.

Hillary is a damn site better than the alternative.

Johnson 20 months ago

lovemychris said: "and the left does say those things about hillary, just like the right does.

thats why its kookoo to say shes far left."

Yes, so that is why I cannot understand why someone would vote for Bernie in the Primary and Hillary in the general election unless they just walk political lines.

Johnson 20 months ago

Jeff,

If one goes down a checklist, then yes they do seem different, so choosing that way would seem ok if all issues had the same relevance to me, but they don't. There are many similarities if one is willing to think outside of the box and also think for themselves instead of what a political party tells them to.

I, for one, think Gary Johnson is a good person and does not carry a lot of baggage. If 50% honesty is OK with you, then go ahead and vote for Hillary, but for me, I want something more. I would actually like a good person whom I feel has good intentions for the citizens of this country. I felt that way about Bernie and I feel that way about Gary. I want to believe the President when he/she says he/she will do something.

I also don't want a warmonger and Gary Johnson is not one. Neither was Bernie.

The fact that he will cut spending is a bonus because we can have a the first balanced budget since Bill.

Cape Wind Girl 20 months agofrom Cape Cod, USA

yes, and sanders never was a democrat until this year. its not his party.

and the left does say those things about hillary, just like the right does.

thats why its kookoo to say shes far left.

shes republican light in many ways.

but supports enough of left causes for sanders to go there.

if you like the middle, you should be happy!

Author

jeff61b 20 months ago

Johnson-

You say you are a Gary Johnson supporter - wait, maybe you ARE Gary Johnson! That might explain why you support him.

If you were a Bernie supporter, Gary Johnson opposes much of what Bernie Sanders stands for. He opposes doing anything about climate change (he actually said that since the sun will explode some day we shouldn't worry about climate change), he is very pro-corporation and against taxing the rich, he wants to get rid of income taxes and replace it with a consumption tax which would hugely benefit the rich and shift more of the tax burden to the poor and the elderly, he opposes things like Cap and Trade to reduce pollution, and he wants to scale back the scope of the EPA.

The only candidate who agrees with Bernie on almost all issues is Hillary.

Johnson 20 months ago

Austinstar said: "You couldn't have been much of a supporter for Bernie. He is now supporting Hillary."

That is because he feels that he has to give that support due to pressure from his political party, but after what they did to him, I would have to stand my ground if I were in his shoes. It is sad that he didn't and I lost a lot of respect for him due to that.

Austinstar said: "Johnson, Basically, it boils down to you hating Hillary so much that you can't listen to reason."

First of all, you don't know me, so it is not very intelligent for you to make such a strong statement about me when all you know about me is from a few statements.

As for me not listening to reason, I beg to differ. I am not the one who chose my choice of president based on what my political party told me to. I actually used reason to make my decision unlike those who align themselves with a party instead of thinking on their own. It is people like that who give the two party system its power. This is not a prisoner's dilemma. We can think for ourselves instead of basing our choices on what we think other people will choose. This is why polls are so important; because most people are sheep.

Austinstar said: "She's not perfect, but she is NOT the witch/liar/weak/crooked person the left makes her out to be."

Left??? I take that as a Freudian slip. lol!

Lela 20 months agofrom Somewhere in the universe

You couldn't have been much of a supporter for Bernie. He is now supporting Hillary. Gary Johnson is probably lower than Trump in getting Bernie's support.

Johnson, Basically, it boils down to you hating Hillary so much that you can't listen to reason. Especially since Hillary has been maligned so much. Mostly for being an intelligent woman.

She's not perfect, but she is NOT the witch/liar/weak/crooked person the left makes her out to be. She's strong. She's still standing. And it my opinion, she is the most qualified presidential candidate ever.

Johnson 20 months ago

Jeff,

Thank you for those numbers and source. I was pretty sure that Hillary is not truthful 96% of the time and I just wanted to show that NM was making an obvious exaggeration, which is not cool.

Chris, you are making a broad assumption about me that is incorrect. I am not a supporter of Trump and I don't know where you got that from. I was a Bernie supporter and now I am a Gary Johnson supporter. I vote by what my conscious tell me, not what a political party tells me.

Go ahead, fire away. I am sure you have many negative things to say about him. Let the propaganda begin.

Cape Wind Girl 20 months agofrom Cape Cod, USA

can i be a source? i watched him say obama and hillary founded isis. fact? he said the nfl called him, they denied it. lie? he said the irs prevents him from releasing tax returns. irs says nothing prevents him from doing it. confused?

for 8 years he said obama was not born here. true?

he said our military is depleted and inneffective. fact?

in fact, where are HIS facts to back up anything HE says?

he doesnt need facts, he doesnt even have to be connected to reality! his hoardes still swoon.

and i have nothing against the mob, but cmon, you all know the casino biz is connected, right? i mean, it was started by bugsy siegel! didnt any of you watch the godfather?

you think hillary is crooked, yet dont even look at your boy trump.

i call that living w blinders on.

oh, and a double standard a mile wide and leagues deep.

Author

jeff61b 20 months ago

I don't know about the 96% statistic but Politifact says that Hillary's statements are True or Mostly True 50% of the time and Half True 22% of the time.

Politifact says says Donald Trump's statements are True or Mostly True just 15% of the time and Half True 14% of the time.

That means Hillary is truthful more than 3 times as often as Trump.

Politifact says that Trump's statements are Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire a whopping 70% of the time.

And you have decided all the ones I provided are not valid. The facts are there. The article is detailed in the facts. It cites sources. The article even sites fact checking sites.

Johnson 20 months ago

You haven't presented any facts to back up your claim that Hillary is 96% truthful. Now you are moving the goal post and saying that she is the victim of a witch hunt.

All I am asking is where did you get that number? You said independent fact checkers, so who are they?

NMLady 20 months agofrom New Mexico & Arizona

I firmly stand on my facts and my research.

As the saying goes: "You can have your own opinion but not facts. These are all facts." Hillary has been the victim of a viscious and well orchestrated witch hunt. Facts show her truthful and her resume is the best.

Johnson 20 months ago

NM said: "Sorry, do not mean to bludgeon you Johnson but there are SO many verifiable sources to prove Trump lies and lies and lies."

I didn't want proof that Trump lied. All politicians lie, so we don't need proof of that. I wanted the source for your statistic of "independent" fact checkers that gave you the statistic you stated.

I do appreciate your effort, though.

Articles from Forward Progressives don't count because it is a biased source (i.e. left leaning). Also, your hub does not count as source, although I am sure you are a fine journalist/writer.

And do go to You Tube and look for the 17 minute video (completely verifiable) by Keith Olberman who does nothing but READ Trump's lies with no other word commentaries. Sorry, do not mean to bludgeon you Johnson but there are SO many verifiable sources to prove Trump lies and lies and lies.

Well done. Hillary is rated by independent fact checkers as being 96% truthful while Trump is rated at 4%. Thing is those who like Trump just don't seem to care all that he has done. Heck, he even brags about stuff that is immoral. Bullies, makes fun of those less fortunate, only values women for their looks, tells people to do harm to others..... ugh.

Thanks for this very clear listing of Trump's scandalous dealings. I am continually floored by the fact that there is so little news coverage of his sleazy activities. And for @Remy Sheperd: You won't see a list like this about Clinton because there are not these kinds of things in her past--no matter how imperfect she is.

Author

jeff61b 20 months ago

Remy Shepherd-

Hillary Clinton's scandals have been thoroughly investigated and reported on in the media.

In Hillary's case the investigations of the scandals proved in almost every case that there was no wrongdoing or illegality by Hillary.

Remy Sheppard 20 months agofrom North Carolina

Cool. Let's see this same list about Clinton.

Cape Wind Girl 20 months agofrom Cape Cod, USA

yes. bring back waterboarding and worse. the return of sadism.

Lela 20 months agofrom Somewhere in the universe

Especially the way the Trumps feel like violence is the answer to all of our problems.

Cape Wind Girl 20 months agofrom Cape Cod, USA

like hillary clinton said over thirty years ago, there is a vast right wing conspiracy, and some reporter worth his/her salt should look into it.

however, my guess would be they would rather live.

Lela 20 months agofrom Somewhere in the universe

And why doesn't the fact that Trump is going to trial for the r a p e of a 13 year old girl not disqualify him either? Why is the news just skipping over this? Does this little girl's life not count for anything? Is she just another one of Trump's many scandals? Nobody is reporting on this. Why?

It's like there is some sort of blind spot in the news over Trump's crap.

Kathleen Cochran 20 months agofrom Atlanta, Georgia

Thank you for this information. When you've been a private citizen as opposed to a public servant, it's not as easy to track down your record.

Cape Wind Girl 20 months agofrom Cape Cod, USA

the most galling to me is wanting to be president while not paying taxes. david k johnston speculates that he's probably paid no taxes at all since 1978! apparently, real estate is one of the 4 occupations that get special privileges from uncle sam.

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